JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

was given by several persons. In western Germany hypothecation
of real estate was preferred, and in this way Jews acquired
in pledge houses, vineyards, farms, villages, castles,
towns, and even seigneuries. Interest rates do not seem to
have exceeded 36% but in the case of deferred payment they
could rise to 100% or beyond. From the 12th century popes
and princes exploited the financial capacity of the Jews by frequent
remission of debts or forced loans. The *Black Death
and consequent persecutions of Jews gave rulers an opportunity
forcibly to seize property and to restore pawns and letters
of credit to debtors. The liquidation of Jewish debts by
King *Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia around the end of the 14th
century is a well-known example of such royal rapacity. With
these and other measures and the rise of the merchant class,
who gradually took over the function of loan-bankers to the
princes and even to emperors during the 15th and early 16th
centuries, the Jews were deprived of imperial protection and
forced to leave the towns. They retired to the small seigneuries
or migrated to Eastern Europe, where a less-developed
economy offered them possibilities of making a livelihood. In
Bohemia, Hungary, and in Poland and Lithuania both princes
and nobility made use of their financial help. As the Eastern
European kingdoms developed with the colonization of the
forests, Jews played an increasing part in commerce and especially
in the *arenda. In the larger towns some engaged in
moneylending and banking activities.
In 12th-century France moneylending was an important
Jewish business, but in the 13th century Jewish lenders came
up against the superior competition of the Lombards, a rivalry
even more intense in the Netherlands. In England, where
*Aaron of Lincoln and *Aaron of York were powerful bankers,
a special *Exchequer of the Jews was set up to centralize Jewish
transactions. However in the 13th century the crown began
to rely on the greater resources of the Cahorsins and Italian
bankers and in 1290 the Jews were expelled. In Italy Jewish
bankers could expand their sphere of activity under the silent
protection of the popes, despite resistance on the part of
the Christian burghers (see *Popes and the Jews). From the
second half of the 13th century they spread throughout central
Italy and gradually expanded toward the north, migrating
at first to the smaller and medium-sized towns. In Pisa
and then in Florence the Da *Pisa family became important
loan-bankers; in Florence in 1437 Cosimo de’ Medici permitted
a Jewish group to establish four loan-banks; in Venice in
1366 Jews, probably of German origin, obtained the right to
lend on pledges. Here as in other places in northern Italy, Jewish
loan-bankers from the south came into competition with
Jews migrating from Germany or southern France. Finally
only a few towns, such as Milan and Genoa, refused to admit
Jewish loan-bankers. However, their activities were seriously
challenged when the anti-Jewish preaching of the *Franciscans
resulted in the establishment of branches of the *Monti
di Pietà toward the middle of the 15th century.
The Iberian Peninsula after the Christian reconquest offers
many examples of large-scale credit activities and tax
banking and bankers
farming by Jews. It is known that they provided money for
armaments against the Moors. El Cid borrowed from Raquel
and Vidas, Jews of Burgos, for his expedition against Valencia.
King Alfonso VI of Castile (1072–1109) also obtained
loans from Jews for his military expeditions. His successors
employed Jews in the financial administration, especially as
almoxarifes (revenue collectors), an activity combined with
moneylending. Thus, Judah Ibn Ezra was in the service of
Alfonso VII, Joseph Ibn Shoshan of Alfonso VIII, and Solomon
*Ibn Zadok (Don Çulema) and his son Çag de la Maleha
were almoxarifes in the service of Alfonso X, while Meir ibn
Shoshan served as his treasurer. When Sancho IV (1258–95)
came to the throne, *Abraham el-Barchilon was prominent in
the financial administration, supervising the farming of the
taxes. Generally, in Castile the Jews abstained from farming
the direct taxes, which from 1288 the Cortes opposed. The Jews
therefore tended to prefer the administration of the customs
and other rights belonging to the office of almoxarife. The
court of Aragon relied on Jewish financial administrators in a
similar fashion. King James I employed *Benveniste de Porta
as a banker, probably giving him as security for his advances
the office of bailiff of Barcelona and Gerona. Judah de la *Cavalleria,
the most powerful Jew in the Aragonese administration,
had control over all the bailiffs of the kingdom. Under
Pedro III the family of *Ravaya were most influential. Though
during the 14th century the Jews in Aragon and Navarre were
subjected to increasing pressures, Judah Ha-Levi and Abraham
Aben-Josef of Estella were general farmers of the rents
under Charles II and Charles III of Navarre. In Castile – in
spite of the Cortes’ opposition – Jews such as the *Abrabanel
family in Seville continued to be active as almoxarifes. The
young Alfonso XI appointed Joseph de *Écija as his almoxarife
mayor (c. 1322); Pedro the Cruel (1350–69) made Samuel
b. Meir ha-Levi *Abulafia of Toledo, known as the richest Jew
of his time, his chief treasurer, and Henry of Trastamara had
Joseph *Picho as his financial officer (contador mayor) despite
his promise to remove all Jews from royal office (1367).
THE CONVERSOS. The persecutions of 1391 and the mass conversions
which followed brought an important change. Some
of the Conversos were able to use the act of baptism to climb
to high positions in the financial administration: examples are
Luis de la *Cavalleria, chief treasurer under John II of Aragon,
Luis *Sánchez, royal bailiff of the kingdom of Aragon (c. 1490),
and his brother Gabriel *Sánchez, who was treasurer-general.
Under Henry IV of Castile (1454–74) Diego Arias de Avila was
the king’s secretary and auditor of the royal accounts; in spite
of Diego’s unpopularity his son Pedro succeeded him. Even
Isabella the Catholic depended on the financial advice of the
Jew Abraham *Senior, from 1476 chief tax gatherer in Castile,
and Isaac *Abrabanel, who after having been banker of
Alfonso V of Portugal served as the queen’s private financial
agent and loaned her a considerable sum for the war against
Granada. The Converso Luis de *Santangel, chancellor and
comptroller of the royal household and great-grandson of
ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 3 113